The Graduate Employees' Organization represents graduate student instructors and graduate student staff assistants at the University of Michigan. First established in 1970, GEO was among the first graduate student unions in the United States. The union secured its first contract in 1975, following a month-long strike, as members demanded fair wages, working conditions, and non-discrimination. Since then, GEO has bargaining for wage increases, no-premium healthcare, tuition waivers, childcare subsidies, dental coverage, access to trans healthcare, and disability accommodations. This event will feature two former GEO organizers—Sandra Silbertstein and Scott Schneiderin—in conversation with a member of the union's current bargaining team, Nora Krinitsky. They will reflect on the early years of the union, consider the place of graduate labor in the broader labor movement then and now, and discuss the future of campus labor organizing.

This LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester event is presented with support from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office. Additional support provided by the Department of History and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.